Nintendo Wii – Forty Years In Gaming Consoles
The breakthroughs we have had in technology, has enabled us to facilitate our amusements needs. Today many people rarely get time to entertain themselves via traditional means. For those people, they can suffer from the stress and strain of everyday life and hardly get time to enjoy themselves by doing some kind of activity. Outdoor games no longer seem to be part of our daily routine, and people tend to lose themselves in their mobile phones or other personal electronic devices for fun and entertainment. As such the electronic gaming market has come to drive all our gaming needs and entertainment, enabling us to have a high tech entertainment system within the comfort of our own home. There are various game consoles that keep hitting the market at regular intervals. These consoles are affordable and have various user friendly features which are taking video gaming forward, towards a new era.
The first gaming console that could be used on a TV at home was the Magnavox Odyssey. It was designed by Ralph Baer and it was first released to the public in 1972 but only met with limited success. In 1975 the real revolution in video games for the home began with the release of the home version of Pong by Atari. Atari managed to agree a deal for 175,000 units with Sears who would market it and sell it within their stores. The game was a massive success for the 1975 Christmas sales. The interesting thing about this game was that all the discrete wiring was designed into just one chip which was the most advanced consumer electronics chip ever made until up to that point. This took thinks to a whole new level and the creation of the video game console was born.
The Xbox 360 followed the success of the original Xbox and is the second version launched by Microsoft, and was produced in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and Sis. Microsoft’s online community allows players to play together over the internet and download content such as arcade games, music, trailers, wallpapers, and movies. The Xbox 360 followed on from the original Xbox, and is in direct competition with Sony’s PS3 and the Nintendo Wii as part of the seventh generation of gaming consoles.
